Masters: Book One
by Hydreigon915
Summary: Few rise above the ranks of normality. Even fewer achieve the rank of Master. This is Ash Ketchum's journey and his rise to the title of Master
1. Beginnings

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**This is my first attempt at a Pokemon Story. Please Review.**

**Here's a revised Chapter One, with a battle between Ash and Henry as well as fixed grammar and such. Enjoy. If you want the next chapter out soon, here's a hint. Reviews make me work faster. I mean, I've got like, twice as many favorites as I do reviews, would it kill you to write a single sentence.**

Ash Ketchum eagerly woke up for what was possibly the most important day of his life.

Today marked the beginning of his journey, and he would finally receive a Pokemon of his own. Ash remembered the event that sparked his interest in becoming a Pokemon trainer. He'd been four years old and had seen the champion Lance battling a challenging trainer. The way his Dragonite had effortlessly defeated the weaker Pokemon had greatly impressed him, and as soon as the match was over, Ash had run to his Mother and told her that he wanted to become a Pokemon trainer.

Ash had weighed the pros and cons of the starters that he knew Professor Oak would be giving out, and he'd decided that he wanted a Squirtle. It had a very impressive move pool and evolved into an incredibly powerful Water type.

After he'd changed into the traveling clothes his mom had gotten for him, blue jeans, a black undershirt, a blue, short-sleeve vest, green , Fingerless gloves, and a white and red hat with a green symbol in the middle. He sprinted down the stairs, and saw the smiling face of his mother. He saw she was about to say something, but he quickly cut her off.

"Sorry, can't talk. Have to get to Professor Oak's,"

As he arrived at the Oak Corral, he saw three other children waiting outside the doors. He recognized Gary, with his spiky, brown hair, long-sleeved blue shirt, and blue jeans. He also saw a tall boy with red hair and a blonde girl with shoulder length hair, Henry and Madison.

When he arrived at the door, Gary sneered at him and said in a snide voice, "Oh, look, it's the loser. I'm surprised you even bothered to show up, everyone knows you'll lose at the first gym you battle,"

Ash ignored Gary's insults and answered calmly, "If that's what you think, then why don't we have a battle once we get our Pokemon,"

The key to dealing with Gary was ignoring what he said. If he couldn't get a rise out of you, he'd leave you alone.

"Whatever, Ashy-boy, whatever you choose won't beat me,"

"Enough!" Henry and Madison had grown tired of Gary's attempts at mockery. "Settle it with a battle, until then, Gary, shut up,"

Gary's face went red at Henry's words, but wisely, he didn't argue with the boy. He was taller and stronger than Gary.

After a few minutes of waiting, Professor Samuel Oak walked outside with a big smile on his face. Professor Oak was of medium height and build. He had the same spiky hair as Gary, his grandson, although his was gray with age. He wore a white lab coat with a red shirt underneath it and khaki pants.

"Gary, Ash, Henry, and Madison, it's good to see you. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to get your Pokémon."

The aspiring new trainers followed the Pokémon Professor into his lab. It was a pristine, sterile white and had many glowing or beeping machines.

Finally, they arrived in front of a small wooden table with three poke balls on it. Ash was quick to point out, "Professor, there are only three poke balls and there are four of us,"

The Professor reddened in embarrassment before he recovered and said, "Oh, that's my fault. One of you will have to stay back a little while longer so I can procure a Pokémon for you,"

Ash looked at the other children. Gary was standing there with a cocky smirk on his face, knowing that he'd get one of the starters due to being Professor Oak's grandson. Henry and Madison both looked as nervous as Ash felt. After several minutes of nervous looks sent his way, Ash stepped forward and said, "I'll wait," he muttered in a defeated tone.

Professor Oak smiled and the pointed to the poke balls on the table, "Inside each of these balls there is a Pokémon. There is Bulbasaur, a Grass type, Charmander, a Fire type, and Squirtle, a Water type. Each of these Pokémon have their strengths and weaknesses, but a great trainer can use any of them to great effect," here speech he gained sounded rehearsed, and Ash grinned when he realized that he'd read the same speech from the info book he'd first gotten from Professor Oak.

Gary walked over to Squirtle's ball and released it, sizing it up. He must have found it worthy, as he gave a nod of his head and returned it to its pokeball. He sent a mocking smirk in Ash's direction. Ash felt sorry for the water turtle. Starter Pokémon usually changed their personalities over a journey to match their trainer, and a Gary that could blast through steel with water was a frightening concept. Madison released Bulbasaur, and she smiled when it extended one of its vines to shake hand. She recalled it afterwards. Henry released Charmander, and the small fire lizard attempted to growl aggressively at the boy, but it came out sounding non-threatening. Henry looked impressed, and returned Charmander to its poke ball.

Professor Oak then walked over to a table and picked up four rectangular red objects up. He handed one to each of them.

"These are my own inventions, the Pokedex. It automatically records information on Pokémon you've seen or caught. It also has built in information on the moves your Pokémon can learn, where certain Pokemon can be caught, several videos of important battles such as Champion battles and such, a special app that allows you to contact me, and information on a species if you need to battle it," Professor Oak finished his speech.

"Now that you have your Pokémon, you can go on your journey. Ash, please stay while I get you your Pokémon."

Ash nodded and said goodbye to Henry and Madison while Professor Oak went to get Ash his Pokémon.

After several nerves racking minutes of waiting, Ash began to get worried. Maybe Professor Oak had no other Pokemon? He was relieved when the old professor returned with a poke ball in hand. He smiled warmly and handed Ash the poke ball. His hand was shaking in anticipation. He took the poke ball and released the Pokémon inside.

The flash of light solidified into a humanoid, yellow figure. It was round-bodied with bulky arms ending in three claws each. It had two black stripes on each arm and one black stripe going around it stomach with a lightning bolt shaped black spot on the center of its chest. It had short, stubby legs with oval-shaped, toeless feet. The most noticeable features on the Pokemon were the two horns on its head. They looked like the prongs on a plug, even having holes in the side, making the Pokemon look like a walking power plug.

"This is Elekid. I had him sent over from my fellow professor in Johto, Professor Birch. I was studying the effects that having a father of a different species has on a Pokemon's physiology. This Elekid had a Machamp for a father, and has the egg moves Cross Chop and Dynamicpunch. He is also more physically powerful than other Elekid."

During the entire speech, both Ash and Elekid had been staring at Professor Oak. When Ash turned to Elekid, he saw the small Electric-type was sizing him up.

Ash gave a warm smile to Elekid and kneeled down to get on its level. He held his hand out and spoke kindly to Elekid.

"Hi Elekid, my name's Ash. I'm going to be your trainer. I promise you that I'll treat you well and make you really strong."

Elekid perked up at the last part, and grunted, the first sound he'd made since meeting Ash. The grunt sounded like a mix between a human grunt and the sound of a generator humming. The small Electric-type took Ash's hand and shook it. Ash felt a slight static shock when his and Elekid's hands touched, but he ignored it.

Ash was ecstatic! He finally had a Pokemon. It didn't even matter that it wasn't a Squirtle; from what he'd heard from Professor Oak, Elekid was better than any Squirtle.

Professor Oak smiled as he saw the meeting of partners. It was certainly different than when he'd met his Charmander. The fire lizard had attempted to burn his face with an Ember attack. "It's good that you two are getting along. I wish you the best of luck on your journey. I have research to attend to. Have fun, and contact me and your mother every so often; I know she'll go crazy if you don't," and with that, Oak left, going on to conduct his studies.

Ash decided it would be a good time to get an idea of Elekid's capabilities. He pulled out his new Pokedex and pointed it at Elekid. It beeped as it gave information on Elekid.

_Elekid, the Electric Pokemon. It rotates its arms to generate electricity, but it tires easily, so it only charges up a little bit. Also, a weak electric current flows between its horns. Sticking a hand there shocks the unwary._

Ash made a mental note to never touch in between Elekid's horns. The Pokedex beeped again as it listed his new partner's personal information.

_This Elekid is male and has the ability Static. It knows the moves Cross Chop, Dynamicpunch, Quick Attack, Leer, and Thundershock._

Ash was impressed with the moves Elekid could learn as he scrolled down the list. He then turned to Elekid, who was watching him intently, and asked him, "Do you want to go back into your Pokemon or walk with me?"

Elekid nodded at the former, and Ash smiled. The small Electric-type followed him outside. Ash was daydreaming about becoming Champion with his mighty Electivire at his side, Lance's Dragonite unconscious beneath his feet.

Suddenly, a snide voice interrupted his daydreams. "So, it looks like you got a Pokemon, Ashy-Boy."

Gary had been waiting against the side of his grandfather's building, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, the smirk on his face mocking and cruel. Gary's Squirtle was trying to imitate its trainer, though it ended up looking ridiculous.

Gary tried to mock Elekid, "What is that thing? Could Gramps not find a real Pokemon so he gave you a walking power plug?"

"Oh, just shut up Gary." Ash was quickly growing tired of Gary's crap, and just wanted to battle him and go on his journey. He wanted to be in Pewter city by at the end of the week, and he didn't want to waste another second with Gary. "Let's just battle and get this over with. Elekid, it's time for your first battle,"

Elekid hummed excitedly and waved his arms in a circle, and electricity sparked on his horns. Gary's Squirtle awkwardly ran forward, ready to battle.

Ash shouted out his order first. "Elekid, use Thundershock!"

Elekid started windmilling his arms, generating power before he shot a weak bolt of electricity at Squirtle. The water type was hurt by the shock and fell back, but it jumped right back up, ready to battle.

Gary's face had gone red at Squirtle being hit and he angrily yelled out "Bubble, then run in and use Tackle!"

Squirtle spit a stream of watery bubble at Elekid, which impacted harmlessly against his side, before awkwardly slamming into the Electric type's side, throwing him to the ground.

"Use Quick Attack, then Cross Chop!"

Ash knew that at this point in a journey, starter Pokemon were weak and couldn't take many hits, and Squirtle looked close to dropping; it had taken too much damage from Thundershock.

With a burst of speed behind him, Elekid crashed into Squirtle, sending it reeling back. Elekid then crossed his arms, and the forearms glowed white before he slammed them into Squirtle, knocking Gary's starter out.

Gary was outraged when he recalled Squirtle, "How did you win?" he all but screamed, "That's not even a real starter!" Gary took a few angry breaths while Ash just stood there quietly, happy at having finally one upped Gary.

Gary angrily stormed off, and once he the arrogant trainer was out of sight, Ash turned to Elekid. "You did awesome! You were really powerful!"

Elekid hummed, a sound Ash was beginning to recognize as excitement, and the small Electric type windmilled his arms, an electric current sparking to life between his horns.

Ash then asked Elekid if he wanted to stay outside his poke ball, to which he gave a nod, and the two set out for Ash's house so he could pick up the backpack his mom had prepared for him.

As he stepped through the door, Ash took a long look throughout his house. This would be the last time in several months that he'd see his house and he wanted to memorize every detail. This was where he'd grown up and he didn't want to forget it.

He walked into the kitchen, Elekid closely following behind him. The small Electric type was fixated on the plug in centers on the wall, constantly poking the tips of his claws into them and giving a pleased hum when he felt the jolt of electricity.

Ash saw his mother at the stove, apparently not hearing them as she hummed a tune he vaguely recognized as a song that she liked. He cleared his throat and his mother jumped, surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Hey Mom, look what Professor Oak gave me,"

Ash gestured to Elekid, who was looking around. His mom smiled as she walked over to Elekid and bent down so she would be on his level. The Electric type turned away from the socket to look at Delia.

"Hi, Elekid, I'm Ash's mom. It's nice to meet you." She said all of this very softly, as if speaking to a baby. Ash was surprised that she knew how to speak to Elekid, then he remembered that she'd been one of Professor Oak's top students. She would know all about Pokémon.

After she'd introduced herself to Elekid, Delia Ketchum turned around and brought out a huge meal for Ash to eat. As he stuffed his face, Ash listened to all of the advice his mom was giving to him, "-and don't attack any of the Dangerous Seven, unless they attack you first. Don't eat any wild berries you find unless you know they're safe. Don't antagonize wild Pokemon and put out your fire before you go to sleep. And don't forget to change your-"

"Okay, I get it. Did you get me the backpack?" His mother smiled as she reached under the table and pulled out a green backpack, offering it to Ash. He looked inside and saw all of the essentials for a new trainer. The backpack contained Potions, Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, a single Burn Heal, Awakenings, a sleeping bag, a change of clothes, a box of matches the basic, bland energy bars and pre-wrapped sandwiches all trainers had to eat, several bottles of water and a water purifier, and a map of the Kanto region. As he dug through the back, he was startled to find a white disc labeled TM15. He pulled it out, and asked his Mom, "What is this?"

Delia smiled as she explained to her son, "Ever since you said you wanted to become a trainer, I've put away a little bit of money each week so I could get you a gift when you go on your journey. Samuel suggested that I get you this TM, as most trainers love this attack. It's the TM for Hyper Beam. Consider it your birthday gift,"

Ash looked down at the disc in disbelief. It contained one of the most powerful moves a Pokemon could know, and he would be starting out his journey with it. His mother suddenly interrupted his thoughts, "Don't get any big ideas. Elekid can't learn it, and if you introduce a move like that to your Pokemon at a young age, it weakens the move in the long run,"

Grumbling to himself, Ash stowed the precious TM back in the bag, taking special care to not damage or scratch it. "Right, thanks Mom," He got up and gave her a big hug. As he walked to the door, he turned around and said, "I'll call you the second I get to Viridian City. Love you, bye,"

After his mom nearly burst out in tears saying goodbye to him, she wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug before he left his house. He walked up to the entrance of Route 1, and was surprised to see Henry and Madison waiting for him there.

"We're all beginning trainers, and Professor Oak suggested that we all travel together until we all have at least two Pokemon,"

Madison was the one who'd spoken. Henry had nodded at the end and spoke up, "Plus, it'd be a good training opportunity, you in?"

Ash was surprised they were offering him this. He'd known the other kids at trainer school, but he'd always been more of a loner. Henry had been one of the sociable, friendly people that was easy-going and everyone liked, and Madison had always been optimistic and outgoing. He quickly accepted their offer with a hasty, "Yes," and held out his hand to shake. Madison declined, but Henry took his hand and gave it a strong shake before letting it go, the three new trainers soon set out on the path.

xXx

"Did you see the battling channel last night, they were showing a rerun of Lorelei's exhibition battle with that Unova guy, I think his name was George Grey or something,"

"Yeah, he completely swept the floor with her. That weird flaming chandelier he had crushed her Lapras. Did you see the way it-?" Ash had been overjoyed when he learned that Henry had shared his passion for battling, and the two had been animatedly talking about famous battles the whole time they'd been walking. They had tried to include Madison in their discussion, but she'd just rolled her eyes muttered something about 'silly boys' and she'd called out her Bulbasaur, and had been walking and talking to it ever since.

"Isn't he really famous in his home region for stopping some team over there?"

"Yeah, I think it was called Team Plasma," Ash supplied the name, remembering the mighty trainer's history.

Henry dismissively waved his hand "Whatever it was, Grey is awesome. The look on his face the entire match-"

"Like he was just playing with her." Ash completed the sentence.

Madison jumped into the conversation, "Did you see his Pokemon? They called it Chandelure. It was so angry looking, it looked almost like it wanted to torch Lapras into cinders!" she finished, an awed look on her face.

"Yeah, it was pretty, but it was powerful too. Remember its Solarbeam? And the Shadow Ball, that was powerful," Ash had watched the match last night, and he'd been impressed with what he saw. The Unova trainer had effortlessly controlled the match from the beginning, and Lorelei's Lapras had been quickly dispatched when he'd gotten serious.

"Yeah it was incredibly powerful," Henry added in.

Madison reached into her pack and pulled out an energy bar, and as she opened it, an ear-piercing shriek filled the area. A small brown and white bird, a Pidgey, swooped down and grabbed the candy bar right out of the girl's hands, and Madison's face was red with fury. She grabbed the poke ball at her belt and released her starter from his poke ball.

"Bulbasaur, grab that Pidgey with Vine Whip!" she shouted, her anger leaking into her voice.

The small Grass type extended the vines out of his bulb and grabbed the Pidgey in mid-flight, the candy bar still in its beak. The small bird dived down and hit Bulbasaur with a Tackle, though the attack didn't seem to do any damage with the vine still holding it.

Madison grinned at Bulbasaur's endurance. "Now, slam it into the ground and then use Tackle!"

Bulbasaur complied with his trainer's orders, bringing the bird down onto the earth and barreling into it. Pidgey gave a shriek of pain when the Grass type's Tackle connected.

Madison had been rummaging around in her backpack before she finally pulled out a poke ball. With a cry of triumph, she threw it at the weakened Flying type, the ball sucking it in in a flash of red light. The ball wobbled for a few seconds, the Pidgey was fighting against its capture, before the ball stopped with a soft _ding,_ signifying its capture. Madison let out a laugh as she rushed over and picked the poke ball containing her new teammate up.

She struck a triumphant pose. "Yes! I caught Pidgey!"

A wide grin was plastered on her face, jubilant at having been the first in the group to catch a Pokemon. She reached down into her backpack and pulled out a purple and white spray can, a potion, before releasing the small Flying type she'd just captured. The brown and white bird materialized in a flash of blue light. It gave out a screech of indignation, but stayed still after Madison began spraying the potion all over it. Once she was done, Pidgey pulled itself up and looked at the female trainer, a look of curiosity on its face.

Madison used this as an opportunity to try and befriend Pidgey, "Hi Pidgey. My name is Madison. I caught you, and I want a strong Pokemon like you on my team," Pidgey chest puffed up at the compliment. Complimenting a Pokemon and telling it how strong it was one of the easiest ways to convince a Pokemon to accept its capture. Amelia continued speaking slowly and softly, so she wouldn't scare the skittish Flying type. "I want to be your friend. If you come with us, I promise to let you keep that candy bar," she said, holding out the dropped candy bar. Pidgey nodded its head and darted its head forward, grabbing the chocolate bar and swallowing the rest in one gulp. With Pidgey now a part of her team, Madison let out a sigh of relief before she took her pokedex out and scanned her new friend.

The machine beeped before it said in a robotic voice, "_Pidgey-the Tiny Bird Pokemon. A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings on ground level to kick up blinding sand. It does not like to fight, and hides in tall grasses, foraging for food such as small bugs._

_This Pidgey is female and has the ability Tangled Feet. It knows the moves Sand Attack, Tackle, and Gust._

Madison smiled as she looked over Pidgey's info. Tangled Feet would be useful if she went up against confusion inducing moves. She returned Pidgey to her new pokeball and walked over to Ash and Henry, who had been watching the whole scene quietly.

Henry was the first to break the silence. "Congratulations, you're the first one of us to capture another Pokemon," the tall, red haired boy was happy for his friend. Ash also voiced his congratulations, though he was much quieter than Henry had been. The new trainer had been almost shouting. Madison smiled at her friends' praise and turned back to the path with a smile on her face. The three traveled for several more hours, until the sun was merely a red half-disc on the horizon.

xXx

"It's getting late, I think we should stop and set up camp. We should get some rest before traveling to Viridian City tomorrow," Ash suggested, the other two trainers nodding in agreement. Ash set up his sleeping bag while Henry set up a ring of stones to contain the fire. Madison was busy refilling the water bottles they'd all brought. While both trainers were sitting there with nothing to do, finished with their tasks, Henry turned to Ash with an excited grin on his face. "You wanna battle? It would be good for experience,"

Ash grinned and released Elekid from his poke ball. Henry tapped Charmander's poke ball and the fire lizard appeared in a flash. Both Pokemon instinctively knew they were in a battle. Electricity sparked on Elekid's horns, while Charmander spit out a small stream of flames.

After they'd gone a safe distance away from the campsite, Ash said to Henry, "You take the first move," a trainer's first move could tell a lot about their battle style. If they instantly started defending, they were nervous, and those who ordered their most powerful attacks instantly were impatient and hot-headed.

"Thanks. Charmander, use Scratch!"

The fire lizard ran toward Elekid with his claws extended, and n=managed to land a painful looking Scratch on the Electric type.

Ash then ordered Elekid, "Use Thundershock, then Quick Attack!"

Elekid shot a jolt of electricity at Charmander before he disappeared in a busrt of speed and slammed into Charmander's side. The Fire type fell over with a growl before it hopped back up, still ready to fight.

"Use Ember, then Smokescreen!"

Charmander hit Elekid with a weak stream of burning embers before he spat a great cloud of gray smoke out of his mouth, obscuring the battlefield. The Fire type suddenly barreled out of the flames and hit Elekid with another Scratch attack, this one sending Elekid into the ground. Elekid jumped back up as Ash commanded, "Finish this with Dynamicpunch!"

Elekid's fist glowed red as he pulled it back and punched Charmander square in the face, the Fire type fainting after teetering for several seconds. Elekid gave a pleased hum at his victory and he walked over to Ash, a big smile plastered on both their faces. Ash returned Elekid with a proudly stated, "Good job," and he clipped Elekid's poke ball to his belt. Henry returned Charmander after treating his wounds with a Potion.

Henry turned to Ash, "That was a great battle, let's do it again sometime," and he then walked back to the campsite. Ash followed him, his stomach rumbling and ready for dinner. Ash just wanted to eat dinner and go to bed.

After the trainer's woke up in the morning, they set off on the road after a short breakfast. Route 1 was a boring route, the only Pokemon were Pidgey, Rattata, and the occasional Spearow, and the few trainers that were on it posed no challenge to Ash, who effortlessly swept through all of the rookies he battled, despite being somewhat inexperienced himself. Ash and his friends stopped for a quick lunch before they set off again.

xXx

It took another eight hours of straight walking before the glimmering lights of Viridian City came into sight. All three trainers groaned in relief. They'd been walking all day and Ash and Madison had been about to stop and make camp. Luckily, Henry had convinced them to walk for a little while longer. Now they would be able to sleep in beds instead of sleeping bags on the cold, hard ground.

When the three arrived at the Viridian City Pokemon Center, they saw the Nurse Joy at the desk. When she saw them approaching, she smiled and said, "Welcome to our Pokemon Center," She seemed very warm and friendly, although that might have been the reason most Nurse Joys were nurses; they had a way of making a person feel at ease.

"Hello Nurse Joy. My friends and I were wondering if you had any rooms available," It was Henry who had spoken. He was probably the only person who could talk so cheerfully at this time of night.

Nurse Joy brightly replied, "As a matter of fact, we have several rooms. I'll just need to see your Trainer Licenses and then I'll give you your room keys,"

All three trainers took their passes out of their pockets and displayed them to the Pokemon nurse. She nodded as she looked at them, noting they were first-year trainers, and said, "Okay, everything seems to be in order," she reached under the counter she was at and produced three keys, each one with a number on it. "These are the keys to the rooms you'll be staying in. Do you need anything else?"

Madison took Pidgey and Bulbasaur's poke balls off her belt and offered them to Nurse Joy. "I just caught Pidgey with Bulbasaur and I want to know if they're hurt. I sprayed Pidgey with a potion, and Bulbasaur was only hit by a Tackle, but I want to be sure,"

Nurse Joy seemed pleased at Madison's explanation. "That's a good idea. Very few people realize that even a weak Tackle can hurt a Pokemon badly. I'll just check up on them and have them back to you within an hour.

Ash and Henry also handed Nurse Joy their Pokemon. Elekid hadn't been hurt by his battles very much, but he didn't want to risk his new partner's health.

Nurse Joy returned Ash and Henry's Pokemon first, stating they were in perfect health, and the two boys sat down to wait for Madison's Pokemon to be returned too. Madison turned to her friends. "Don't wait for me. Go to bed. I'll be up after I get my Pokemon back," the blonde haired girl trudged over to a nearby chair and nearly collapsed on it, exhaustion evident on her face.

The two boys went up and found their rooms, and after a quick goodnight to each other, they walked into their respective rooms. Looking around, Ash could tell that the room was only supposed to be a temporary residence. It had a bed, TV, a couch, a small bathroom with a toilet and shower, and a small mini-fridge to cool down water and food. Groaning with tiredness, Ash took the now warm bottle of water from his backpack and placed in it the fridge so he would have cold water tomorrow. He was about to go to sleep when he remembered his new partner, Elekid, and pulled the poke ball containing him off of his belt and pressed the release button, the blue light forming into the now recognizable shape of new friend. Elekid hummed happily once he was released, and walked over to Ash's bed and climbed on, poking his trainer's hand. Ash smiled as he asked Elekid, "Do you want to stay out of your pokeball tonight. There's an electrical socket over there," he pointed at the place that the TV was plugged in, "so you can charge yourself up,"

Elekid hummed in agreement, and walked over to the electrical socket, poked it, and then sighed in contentment as the electric charge flowed through his small body. After a few minutes, he pulled away, and turned to Ash, small sparks of electricity jumping all over his body. He went and patted his trainer, and then walked over to the coach, pulling himself onto it and falling asleep almost immediately.

Ash smiled when he saw his partner's behavior. He felt slightly guilty; he'd neglected Elekid by not sending it out except for battles, and he promised himself that he'd let Elekid walk with them tomorrow. He laid his head back and drifted off to sleep, dreams of becoming champion at the front of his mind.

xXx

Ash woke up to an excited humming sound. Groggily, he pulled his head up from the incredible comfortable pillow to see the source of the noise, Elekid, at the side of his bed, a bright smile on his face.

Ash pulled himself up and looked at the clock. It read 9:48. He smiled to Elekid and said a happy, "Good morning," before getting out of bed and hopping into the shower. Once he got out, he saw Elekid poking its finger into the electrical socket as it absorbed the electricity, though it stopped when Ash walked and gave a happy hum, bouncing over to the young trainer.

After he and Elekid walked downstairs, Nurse Joy saw him and called him over. "Your friends are out enjoying the city. They asked me to tell you that they'd meet you at the entrance to Viridian Forest at 12:00. If you have time to spend until then, might I suggest exploring our beautiful city?"

Ash thought about it for a moment before he bought a map from Nurse Joy and exited the Pokemon Center, Elekid in tow. Ash looked at the map, noting a few places he wanted to visit. He picked the spot that he'd have to visit eventually, the Viridian City gym, before he closed the map and set off towards the gym.

After several minutes of walking, Ash arrived in front of the Viridian Gym. It was an impressive building, large, imposing, meant to intimidate trainers with its size. Ash looked at it for a moment as he recalled what he knew about the gym. The gym leader for Viridian City was Giovanni, a mysterious and brutal trainer. More Pokemon were seriously injured in his gym than in all of the others combined. He was regarded as one of the three strongest gym leaders, with the Psychic Sabrina and former Elite Four member Blaine. He used primarily Ground types, and rarely left his gym. As gym leader, he was responsible for the wellbeing of his town, and he took the role very seriously. Viridian City had the lowest crime rate in all of Kanto, as well as the most severe punishments. After gazing at the gym, Ash turned to leave, and accidentally bumped into the man who was walking behind him.

Elekid's horns sparked as he fixed the man with a look he thought was threating, but seemed cute with his small body. Ash placed a hand on Elekid's head to calm him down, before he turned to the man. "Excuse me, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Ash apologetically explained to the man he'd bumped into. As he looked at the man's face, Ash felt a jolt of puzzled recognition hit him, like he'd met the man before.

The man was wearing a large black overcoat with a wide brimmed, black hat on his head. A red handkerchief was tucked into his front coat pocket, and Ash could see he wore a white collared shirt under his coat. What was strange was that the man's features looked strikingly familiar to Ash's. The man gave Ash a strange look, before he spoke. "It's alright, just watch where you're going from now on,"

The man's voice was powerful, and at the same time held an undertone of danger, as if this man was more threatening than he seemed. The man walked into the gym after he'd spoken, and Ash looked at the swinging doors. It was only later that he realized that he'd just met Giovanni, the leader of this gym, a man said to be almost as powerful as a member of the Elite Four.

xXx

It had been ten minutes, and Henry and Madison still hadn't arrived at the entrance to Viridian Forest. Elekid gave an exasperated hum, and Ash smiled at the small Electric type's impatience. "I know we've been waiting a while, Elekid, but you have to be patient. If they don't arrive within the next half an hour we'll-"

Ash was interrupted mid-speech by a yell from down the road. He turned his head and saw Henry and Madison waving at him. He smiled as he and Elekid walked to them.

"Sorry we're late, Madison dragged me over to this clothes shop and wouldn't leave until she'd tried on everything in the entire-" He was cut off by a slap upside the head from Madison, who'd turned to him before he'd been able to finish the sentence.

"Let's get going, I don't want to be in Viridian Forest for any longer than I have to be," and with those words, Madison walked in, beckoning the boys to follow her.

They'd been traveling for several hours, and Ash and his friends were already tired of the Forest. Henry had caught a Spinarak, but nothing else of any importance had happened. Ash had used the copious amounts of trainers in the forest as an opportunity to train Elekid, but the matches had been easy; mostly trainers who'd caught the abundant Bug types that were everywhere in this forest. So far, Ash had defeated a Beedril, Ledyba, seven Caterpie, four Weedle, two Kakuna, three Metapod, some sword wielding lunatic with a Pinsir, and a Venonat. He was battling a Butterfree right now.

Elekid had taken to battling with flair. He loved to show off his strength and defeat powerful opponents. He was dominating the match they were currently in right now.

"Use Thundershock!"

The bolt of electricity shot out from between Elekid's horns and struck the unfortunate Butterfree, the electricity coursing all throughout its body before it couldn't take anymore and fainted. Elekid gave a pleased hum as the Bug Catcher returned his Butterfree and handed the obligatory monetary winnings from the battle to Ash.

Ash's friends clapped and cheered as he walked over to them, a large grin on his face.

"So that's like, what, five in a row? Congratulations, by the way," Henry asked. "If you keep this up, then Lance will be dethroned by the end of the month," he said jokingly.

After the three had enjoyed a good lunch, they set out towards the exit. They saw many Bug types, and they once caught a glimpse of one of the Pikachu packs. Henry and Madison were the battlers this time, Henry scorching all of the Bug types with Charmander and Madison breaking in her new Pidgey. Both won all of their battles, although the opponents weren't very good, considering most trainers in the forest caught had caught their Pokemon the previous day.

As they approached the exit, Ash looked forward to finally being able to battle his first Gym Leader.

"Oh, finally. There's the exit. Let's leave, I hate this place," it was Madison who'd spoken. She'd made her disdain for Bug types very clear ever since the trio had entered the forest.

"Honestly Madison, they're just Bug types, you don't have to be afraid," Henry had grown exasperated at Madison's dislike of all bugs. She'd freaked out and tried to smash his new Spinarak when he'd released it to eat with the other Pokemon at lunch.

"I'm not afraid of Bug types, I just don't like them. They're gross and disgusting and I'm never catching one," she finished.

Ash saw he skyline of Pewter city in front of him, dozens of building hewn from the rock that gave the city its name. His friends saw it to, and fell silent. Ash's mind was racing; this would be the first major trial of his journey, the first gym battle, his first real challenge. A smile split his face as he walked into Pewter City.

Ash grinned. The first major part of his journey awaited him.

**Review Please**

**Go to my Profile to vote for what Ash should place in the Indigo Conference. Next chapter will be out as soon as I write it. It'll come out faster if people review. Please, give feedback, I'd like to know what you think, criticisms, suggestions, etcetera.**


	2. Pewter City & Mt Moon

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Here's Chapter two. Please review.

Those who dislike the OCs, don't worry. They'll be gone by the end of next chapter, and both will appear once before the Indigo Conference. They're mostly in the story to provide Ash with rivals other than Gary.

Oh, and for all who would complain about how Seedot can't be found in Kanto, you're wrong. It can be found by headbutting trees in Viridian Forest. I will admit that I am being a bit lax with the game mechanics, but nothing completely unreasonable will happen, like finding random Pseudo legendaries anywhere or a Riolu in Kanto.

xXx

The three arrived at the Pewter City Pokemon Center after another ten minutes of walking. As they stepped in, all three sighed in relief at the burst of cool air that hit them. The Nurse Joy smiled as the three trainers and Elekid walked in. "Hello, I'm Nurse Joy. Welcome to the Pewter City Pokemon Center. Would you like me to check your Pokemon?"

"Yes please," Ash said. He returned Elekid to his pokeball and handed it to Nurse Joy, Henry and Madison handing over their Pokemon as well.

"Nurse Joy smiled as she took their Pokemon and said, "If you'll just wait here, I'll just give your Pokemon a short checkup and heal any injuries they may have. I'll be back shortly.

After roughly fifteen minutes of waiting, the pink haired nurse walked back into the room, pokeballs in hand, as she said, "All of your Pokemon are in good shape. They just needed a few Potions to bring them back into perfect shape. Please, enjoy your day."

After thanking Nurse Joy, Ash took Elekid's poke ball from her and released his partner. Elekid materialized in a flash of blue light, and hummed happily as he saw Ash.

"Okay Elekid, our first gym battle is tomorrow and I want us to be ready. We're going to do some training before we go to bed, okay?

Elekid gave an agreeing hum as he looked at Ash with determination in his eyes. The small Electric type followed Ash as the trainer walked to one of the practice fields the Pokemon Center.

Ash looked around at the practice field. There were several dummies that Pokemon could practice attacks on, a large pool off in the corner for Water type Pokemon that couldn't be on land, as well as a large battlefield for mock battles. Ash pointed over to the attack dummies and said, "Okay Elekid. Go practice all of your moves on the training dummy. Try to charge up more electricity than normal,"

Elekid hummed and walked over to the training dummy, windmilling his arms for more time than usual before shooting a stronger than normal Thundershock at it.

Ash pulled out his Pokedex and looked at Elekid's moveset. Right now, Elekid seemed to be able to learn Swift and Low Kick. Elekid already had two excellent Fighting type moves, so Ash decided to focus on Swift. It would help improve Elekid's attacking move pool and would improve his ranged attacks. He opened up the move description on Swift and called Elekid over.

"So Elekid, I want you to start working on Swift. It says here that you should focus on converting energy inside your body into star shaped energy, so try that,"

Elekid looked at Ash with a confused expression on his face, insure of how to do what Ash was asking of him. Ash sighed and asked Elekid, "Would it help if I showed you how the move is used?"

Elekid nodded, and Ash pulled up the video on his Pokedex of an Elekid using Swift. Elekid seemed tov pay special attention to the energy making up the stars in the video.

Elekid nodded before a focused look appeared on his face. Small particles of energy appeared above his head, and a few roughly formed stars appeared before dissipating. Elekid looked tired at the attempt.

Ash was pleased with Elekid's first effort. He still had some work to do, but he'd have the move down before the week was over.

"Okay, just focus on making one solid star this time, and let's work from there,"

Ash had confidence in Elekid's abilities. He was his starter, and could definitely handle this.

xXx

The Pewter City Gym truly did reflect the spirit of its city. The structure was roughly hewn from the rock the city had mined, and appeared to be a large cave, if anything. Ash and his friends had all gotten checkups for their Pokemon, and after receiving the clean bill of health, they'd headed off to the gym. They were currently standing in front of it, trying to decide who would battle first.

"Haven't you ever heard the expression 'ladies first'? That means it should be me battling the gym leader first," Madison said imperiously, looking at Henry with a fake haughty look.

"If a lady comes to battle, I'll let her battle before me," Henry said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"You little jerk; I _am _a lady. You're just a rough, uncultured brute with no sense of etiquette,"

"I'm not a brute!" and the two dissolved into an angry argument, with Ash standing there uncomfortably, feeling like he was watching something private. Suddenly, the two realized he was there, and a wicked smile appeared on Madison's face as she sweetly said, "Let's let Ash decide. Who do _you_ think should go first?" she asked, hugging his arm flirtatiously.

"I think I'll go first,"

Madison's grin shattered and Henry dissolved into a fit of uncontrolled laughter, though he silenced himself after he received a disapproving swat on the arm from Madison. The three walked into the gym, ready to battle.

The field inside the gym was nothing special, just a gravely field dotted with boulders here and there. The gym leader was sitting on a rock in the back, his eyes closed. When they walked in, he spoke, "I am Brock, the leader of this gym. I will take one challenger at a time. Step forward!"

Ash nervously stepped forward, and the gym leader looked at him with a calculating expression. "This will be a one on one Pokemon battle. The first person to knock the other's Pokemon out wins." Brock then reached onto his belt and tapped a pokeball, releasing a large, grey serpent made of segmented boulders, an Onix. The Rock type roared, sounding like dozens of rocks crushing together. Ash called out Elekid, the small Electric type humming excitedly as he prepared for battle.

In preparation for his gym battle, Ash had looked up everything known about Brock. He had discovered that the gym leader usually used Onix, and had read up on the species. It was actually a very fascinating Pokemon, and Ash had decided that he wanted to catch one eventually. Onix had great bulk that fueled their attacks, but their defenses were rather lax in certain areas. The areas where the boulders connected were weak spots a trainer could exploit, and Ash had told Elekid to aim for those.

"Elekid, start off with Cross Chop!"

Elekid's arms glowed white as he crossed them, and he jumped off of the ground, the attack landing on Onix's head. The Rock type, however, seemed to shrug off the attack.

Brock smiled at Onix's defenses before he yelled out, "Hit it with Tackle!"

The massive stone serpent threw itself at Elekid, sending the Electric Pokemon flying before it slammed into the wall, pulling itself up with a pained grunt.

"Now, hit it with Body Slam, don't stop until you hit it!"

"Elekid, dodge all of them with Quick Attack!"

Onix threw itself at Elekid with surprising speed for something so large, but the Electric type threw himself out of the way in a burst of speed. Onix chased after, attempting to land the one hit that would ensure its victory, but Elekid was too fast, and by the end of his barrage, Onix was panting and gasping for breath. Ash saw how exhausted Onix was and saw his chance. "Hit it with Dynamicpunch where the head and neck connect!"

Elekid jumped up and his fist started to glow red. With a burst of strength, he smacked his fist in the joint between Onix's neck and head and the Rock type roared in pain. Ash also saw how Onix was starting to sway from side to side, and how it had a dazed look in its eyes. He grinned, the confusion had taken effect.

Brock frowned as he saw his Pokemon writhing in pain, and he quickly yelled out, "Hit it with Rock Throw!", but the stone serpent gave no sign of having heard him, opting to bash his head against the ground in an attempt to dispel the confusion.

"Finish this! Hit it with Cross Chop on the same spot you used Dynamicpunch!"

A familiar white glow covered Elekid's arms as he crossed them, and the Electric type launched himself at Onix, the Rock type roaring in agony as the attack hit. Elekid landed on the ground, and Ash saw Onix sway several times before collapsing in a pained heap.

Ash saw Brock return Onix, and then the gym leader walked over to him. "Congratulations," he held his hand out, a small, rock shaped badge in his hand, "This is the official Pokemon League Boulder Badge. Take it, it's yours."

Ash was ecstatic; this was his first badge, the first stepping stone on his way to the Indigo Conference. Reverently, he took the badge from Brock and carefully placed it in his badge case as he thanked Brock.

"Are your friends going to battle? If so, tell them to be back in about an hour or so, I need to get Onix healed up," Brock said, gesturing to the pokeball clipped onto his belt.

"Thanks, I'll do that," Ash was about to leave when Brock shouted something to him.

"If you ever want to have a rematch, come back here. I'll use my real team and we can have a real battle." He said, an expecting look on his face.

"Ok, thanks, I'll return once I've obtained all eight badges, see you then."

He waved goodbye to Brock as he walked over to his friends and told them the news.

"That was amazing! The way you had Elekid go for the weak spots was really smart, you really deserved that badge. Congrats." Henry said, a bright smile on his face.

Madison smiled at Ash, "It was a really good battle, especially that Dynamicpunch. Good job."

"Thanks, I wasn't sure how Elekid would do, but we managed to pull it off." Ash said, patting Elekid on the head. The small Electric type gave a hum of contentment as his trainer's happiness.

xXx

Neither Henry nor Madison had very much trouble battling Brock. Madison had defeated Onix with super-effective Grass type moves from Bulbasaur, while Henry defeated Brock's Geodude with Charmander's newly learned Metal Claw. Ash had noted that the Onix Brock had sent out didn't seem as strong as when he'd battled it, and Geodude wasn't powerful at all.

The three had decided to remain in Pewter City until next Monday so they could train their Pokemon before traveling to Mt. Moon. Ash decided that he'd use this opportunity to make Elekid much stronger; the Electric type was currently his only Pokemon and none of the Pokemon on this side of Mt. Moon were particularly impressive.

Ash wanted to use the time in Pewter City not only to train Elekid, but also to get to know his partner better. All he really knew about Elekid was that he loved battling and consuming electricity. He had to get to know Elekid better, he owed it to him.

xXx

Elekid's face scrunched up in concentration as ten gold stars appeared over his head. The stars suddenly were launched at the training dummy in front of him, a small explosion bursting into existence as each star struck the dummy.

"Good job, Elekid. You've really gotten the hang of that attack," Ash was proud of Elekid. They'd only been working for two days and Elekid had already gotten the hang of Swift. Now it was just a habit of increasing the number of stars. He wanted to start working on more powerful Electric type moves. Shock Wave looked promising; it was really just a stronger, _much_ faster version of Thundershock. In fact, Shock Wave was generally regarded as the fastest Electric type move. It was so fast that it almost never missed.

Ash looked at Elekid, he and the the Electric type had gotten much closer in the two days they'd been training. He'd found that the Electric type was actually quite the glutton, he consumed nearly three times the electricity that a normal Elekid did. Ash hoped it was sign of extreme power rather than gluttony, though he suspected it was a combination of both. Ash shuddered to think what would happen when Elekid evolve into Electabuzz and needed real food. With his new appetite, he'd probably eat food quicker than Ash could earn the money to pay for it.

Aside from being a minor glutton, Ash was now able to identify what all of Elekid's hums meant, and was beginning to be able to read Elekid's body language. It was very common for trainers to be able to understand what their starters were trying to say, albeit not in actual spoken language. Also, he'd found out that Elekid had inherited his Machamp father's love of battling. He'd once woken Ash up at 4:00 in the morning to go train, and Ash had had to have a very serious talk with Elekid about his sleeping time and to never wake him up before 6:00 unless there was an emergency. Elekid was extremely affectionate and constantly happy, though the affection was probably just because he was a very young Pokemon.

"Okay, let's work on Shock Wave. Charge up more energy than you need for Thundershock and try shooting it very quickly," Ash ordered. Elekid hummed in agreement and started windmilling his arms. The horns on his head sparked, electricity jumping all over his body. After several seconds of charging, a bright yellow beam of electricity shot out and struck the dummy, creating a large black scorched are along its front.

"Good job, you've got the general idea, now let's focus on making it stronger and faster," Ash was proud of Elekid's progress, he knew Elekid would have this move down soon, Elekid wouldn't disappoint.

xXx

Ash grumbled to himself as he pushed a large branch out of his way, Elekid trudging behind him, a similar expression of grumpiness on his face. Henry and Madison had confronted him earlier this day and stated in no uncertain terms that he _had _to get another Pokemon before they left for Mt Moon. Ash had tried to argue with them, but they'd flat out refused to leave Pewter City until he had caught another Pokemon, so here he was, walking stumbling through Viridian Forest.

Ash had been wandering throughout Viridian Forest for two hours, but he'd yet to find a Pokemon worth capturing. All he had seen were a few Caterpie and Weedle, and only rookie trainers bothered with weak Pokemon like them.

Ash noticed that Viridian Forest was even more mazelike and overgrown off the official path. Ash had considered catching a Pikachu, but he'd decided against it. Ash already had an Electric type that was better than any Pikachu. Plus, Pikachu had a nasty habit of resisting evolution, which was just plain stupid. Pokemon needed to evolve. If a Pokemon wasn't meant to evolve, then it wouldn't have developed an evolution. Not evolving limited a Pokemon's strength and cut short its lifespan. True, there were a few exceptions, like Porygon2 and Vigoroth, but that was it. The bottom line was, Ash wasn't catching a Pikachu.

Ash thought about just catching a Pokemon, then releasing it, but he decided against it. It would be cruel to the Pokemon, and just unnecessary. Ash wanted a teammate that would follow him to the Indigo Conference.

Ash stopped when he noticed an acorn on the ground. Something about it seemed off. He bent down to pick it up, and was shocked when it suddenly spun around and spit a glob of sap in his face. Elekid hummed angrily and shot a bolt of electricity at the offending acorn. After he got the sap out of his eyes, Ash could see what he'd mistaken for an acorn was actually a Seedot. Ash grinned. This Pokemon was a fighter, and he wanted it on his team.

"Hit it with Quick Attack!"

Elekid gave an excited hum as his body glowed with a white aura and, with a burst of speed, slammed into Seedot. The Grass type responded by forming an orb of white energy over its head, which then sunk into the ground. Nature Power. Suddenly, Seedot's body glowed green and an orb of green light formed over its head before forming into a seed-like shape and that was then launched at Elekid. The Electric type dodged and smashed a glowing red fist, Dynamicpunch, into Seedot's small body, sending the Grass type sprawling on the ground. Ash saw his chance, and pulled a poke ball off of his belt and threw it at Seedot's unconscious body. Seedot disappeared in a flash of red light as it was sucked into the poke ball. The ball shook three times before it stood still, a soft _ding_ alerting Ash to Seedot's successful capture.

Ash was aware that Seedot were incredibly rare in Viridian Forest. Several years ago, a trainer from Hoenn had released his Seedot in the forest, and Seedot had bread with the other Pokemon, creating a small Seedot population within Viridian Forest. The trainer who had released the Seedot had been heavily fined for introducing a non-native species, but luckily, Seedot had easily blended in to the environment. Seedot absorbed their energies from trees, and didn't consume any of the food that the local Bug and Flying types ate.

Ash grinned to Elekid, and said "Great job, Elekid. I'm going to release Seedot now, keep on guard. Don't attack it unless it attacks first, we're supposed to be its friends,"

Elekid nodded in response, his body taking a non-threatening, yet still on-guard look.

Ash then sent out Seedot as he pulled a Revive out of his backpack, breaking the diamond shaped container over Seedot's body. The powder inside was absorbed into Seedot's body and the Grass type suddenly sat up, as lively as before. Seedot looked up at Ash, its expression cautionary yet patient. Ash used this time to befriend Seedot before it could send another glob of sap at him.

"Hi Seedot, my name is Ash. I want to be your friend and trainer. If you come with me, I promise to make you stronger than you could be if you stayed here," Ash said all of this calmly and encouragingly, the way trainers were advised to speak to newly caught Pokemon.

Seedot gave Ash a strange look, but hesitantly nodded its entire body, looking at Ash with approval in its eyes.

Ash's grin grew even larger at Seedot's acceptance. He pulled out his Pokedex and pulled up Seedot's entry on the Pokedex. The machine beped before it spat out the information on Seedot.

_Seedot, the Acorn Pokemon. When it dangles from a tree branch, it looks just like an acorn. It enjoys scaring other Pokemon. It hangs off branches and absorbs nutrients. When it finishes eating, its body becomes so heavy that it drops to the ground with a thump._

_This Seedot is male and knows the moves Bide, Harden, Growth, and Nature Power_

Well, enjoying pranks certainly sounded like Seedot.

"Okay then Seedot, this is Elekid," Ash gestured to Elekid, who gave Seedot a friendly hum. The Grass type nodded her head at Elekid before turning back to Ash.

Ash asked Seedot, "Do you want to go back into your poke ball?

Seedot nodded again, and Ash did as Seedot wanted. After Seedot's poke ball was safely clipped on his belt, he and Elekid set off back for Pewter City.

xXx

It had been easy to get Seedot into the training methods Ash used. Unfortunately, Seedot only had four moves, two of which couldn't hurt an opponent, and the other two were very conditional, making it difficult for Seedot to battle. Ash had read up on the Nature Power attack that Seedot was fond of, and found the attack fascinating. The attack actually absorbed energy from the surrounding areas and used it to damage the opponent. Although Seedot was somewhat limited in battle, that didn't stop him from being any less effective, using Nature Power and Bide to great effect. Seedot had matched off against Henry and Madison several times, and the Grass type had done well, growing closer to evolution with each battle. Seedot evolved very early in their lives, they were rather limited battles as Seedot and gained a much larger movepool after evolution, making them much more efficient battlers.

xXx

The next Monday, the three set out for Mt. Moon. Ash once again battled all of the trainers they encountered, easily defeating the inexperienced trainers on the road. There were a few trainers who posed a real challenge, one trainer with a powerful Nidorina nearly managed to defeat Elekid, though Ash and Elekid won out in the end. Seedot got in his fair share of battling too, and he didn't disappoint, defeating everyone set before her.

The three now looked up at the imposing figure of Mt. Moon. The mountain seemed to go up and up, the peak of the mountain hidden by the clouds. Mt. Moon was the only large mountain in west Kanto, and while it seemed massive right now, the Silver Mountains in the East dwarfed Mt. Moon. Nonetheless, Mt. Moon seemed a gargantuan figure incapable of being traversed, though Ash suspected it would be different on the inside.

The three looked at each other, awed by the sheer size of the mountain. They stopped at the entrance, silently imploring each other to be the first one to step forward, as if someone else stepping forward would give the others the courage to follow. Once again, it was up to Ash to volunteer, stepping into the cold darkness of Mt Moon, Madison and Henry following close behind him. All three took out the flashlights they'd bought in Pewter City and flicked them on, the beams piercing the darkness and lighting the way forward.

They'd been traveling through Mt. Moon for several hours, and the going had been easy so far. The massive swarms of Zubat were extremely annoying, but if you avoided their Supersonic attacks, they were manageable. They'd come across several other Pokemon, Paras skittering about on the ground, Sandshrew digging holes in the ground, and they once caught a glance of the illusive Clefairy, but it had ducked away as soon as it heard them coming.

They were walking along when Ash suddenly tripped, a large cloud of dust forming after his fall. He looked around, trying to find what made him trip. He saw two rocks, one shaped like a dome and the other with a spiral on it. _Fossils_, he realized. These were some of the rarest items in Kanto, and here they were, lying on the ground at his feet. He was about to pick them up before a nasally voice screamed out "DON'T TOUCH THOSE!" and a nerdy looking man ran in. He immediately released a Voltorb that sparked menacingly, and the nerd demanded, "Battle me for those fossils, if I win, then I get to keep them, if you win, you do,"

"Fine," Ash said, annoyed at the man, "Go, Seedot!"

The brown acorn-like Pokemon appeared, his eyes showing willingness to fight.

Ash started off with some simple orders, "Use Harden, then Growth!"

Seedot's body suddenly took on a white shine as both his attacking powers and defensive powers increased.

Voltorb suddenly took off with a Rollout, not listening to its trainers orders. Seedot was nailed by the Rollout, and sent sprawling over the floor before he jumped back up, still ready to battle.

"Use Nature Power!"

Seedot formed a white orb over her head that sunk into the ground. His body glowed a dull, light brown before several rocks tore themselves up from the ground and hurled themselves at Voltorb, causing a great deal of damage. Voltorb wasn't out, and fired off a strong Sonicboom at Seedot, sending the Acorn Pokemon flying once more. Seedot struggled to pull himself up, but was struck down by a Charge Beam from Voltorb.

"Come on, Seedot! Get up! You can do it!" Ash yelled the words of encouragement to his newest friend, and miraculously, Seedot began to pull himself up. His entire body began to glow, and Ash could only watch in amazement as Seedot began to evolve.

Seedot's entire body began to lengthen and grow, and a head and neck split themselves apart from the seed that had been Seedot's body. Short legs and arms pushed themselves out from Seedot's body. The stem on top of his head flattened out and turned into a leaf.

Suddenly, the light cleared and the new figure was revealed.

Nuzleaf was a short, brown Pokemon with stocky thighs and a long, pointed nose. A single green leaf stuck out on his head. Nuzleaf examined his new body and swung his arms experimentally, pleased with her evolution. Ash was thrilled that Seedot had evolved. He was lucky it had happened to Seedot, a Grass type. Grass type evolutions were usually very quick and painless, the plant-like bodies very adaptable to the change, and very few complications ever happened.

Ash had read that Nuzleaf automatically knew Razor Leaf upon evolution, and ordered his newly evolved Pokemon to use it. Nuzleaf complied, sending a wave of razor sharp leaves at Voltorb, who was knocked out by the attack.

Grumbling, the nerd returned his unconscious Voltorb, and was about to leave when Ash stopped him. "Wait!" The nerd turned around, and Ash continued with his offer, "I already got something out of this battle. You can take one of the fossils,"

The nerd's face lit up, and he repeatedly yelled, "Thank you, thank you!" He quickly snapped up the helix patterned fossil and ran off as quickly as he had arrived. Ash picked up the dome shaped fossil and turned to Nuzleaf.

"You were fantastic! The way you evolved in the middle was great. I'm so proud of you," Nuzleaf gave a pleased whistle, the first sound he'd ever made.

Ash returned Nuzleaf and went to continue on his journey, Henry and Madison congratulating him on his win.

xXx

It took three more hours of walking to exit Mt. Moon, and Ash had never been happier to see light in his life. The sun was a red disc on the horizon, barely a sliver, and the trio decided to camp where they were instead of continuing. As he fell off to sleep, Ash had only thoughts of his impending gym battle in Cerulean City on his mind.

After the three woke up in the morning, they traveled the rest of the path to Cerulean City. The path was easy, and the Pokemon they encountered were easily dispatched, though one particularly stubborn Ekans nearly fought Elekid and Nuzleaf to a standstill before running away. Ash let Madison and Henry battle the trainers they encountered on the path, both of them winning easily. Henry once lost against a particularly strong trainer with a well trained Krabby, but Madison easily defeated the Water type with her Bulbasaur afterwards.

Once they arrived at Cerulean City, Ash took a moment to look at the "City of Water". Cerulean Cities building were mostly colored blue, likely a representation of the waters that surrounded the city. Ash knew that almost all trainers in the city used Water types, and that the gym specialized in Water types.

The three went into the Pokemon Center, where the smiling Nurse Joy accepted and healed their Pokemon. Ash once again traveled to the practice field after getting a clean bill of health for Nuzleaf and Elekid. He wanted the two to train for the upcoming gym battle with Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader. Misty was a relatively new gym leader, having taken over for her sisters the year before. Still, she was a powerful trainer, her impressive Starmie having obtained its fair share of victories. While Elekid and Nuzleaf both had a type advantage, Ash wanted to better prepare them for the battle. Type advantage was helpful, but gym leaders could easily overcome it due to their years of experience.

Ash released Elekid and Nuzleaf from their poke balls, the two of them looking at Ash expectedly. Ash decided on his training schedule for today. "Elekid, Nuzleaf, I want you two to go against each other in a mock battle. Elekid you can't use Cross Chop or Dynamicpunch and Nuzleaf, you can't use Nature Power. I want you to be able to battle without super effective moves. This is a battle just a warm up to get out blood pumping for our real training, the first Pokemon to land three hits wins,"

Both Pokemon nodded in understanding and looked at each other, sizing each other up and trying to find the other's weakness. Nuzleaf was the first to strike, a quick Pound attack on Elekid's head in between his horns. Unfortunately for Nuzleaf, he didn't know about the electric current flowing through here, and Nuzleaf quickly took his hand out of there, his hand shocked. Elekid tried to hit Nuzleaf with Quick Attack, but Nuzleaf twisted and dodged, once again slamming Elekid into the ground with pound, this time on the Electric type's back. Elekid suddenly glowed with Electricity and shot a Shock Wave at the Grass type, landing his first hit in the battle. Nuzleaf shot a flurry of Razor Leafs at Elekid, but the Electric type dodged with a burst of speed and nailed Nuzleaf with a Quick Attack. Suddenly, Nuzleaf grinned, and lunged forward, hitting Elekid with one final Pound on the stomach.

Ash saw what Nuzleaf had done and was impressed. The Grass type had allowed Elekid to get in close so Nuzleaf could land the third strike. In retrospect, Ash should have expected it; Dark types like Nuzleaf were generally sneakier and better at tricking their opponents than other Pokemon.

"That was great, both of you. Elekid, you're getting much better at dodging and using Shock Wave, and Nuzleaf, that was really good planning on your part. Now then, Elekid, I want you to go practice Shock Wave some more, I want you able to use it on a moment's notice. Nuzleaf, go practice Razor Leaf, try to make your leaves faster," Ash finished, pointing at an individual training dummy for each of them. Both of his Pokemon nodded, and followed his instructions. Ash smiled, his Pokemon would definitely be ready for their gym battle tomorrow.

xXx

Sorry if this chapter seems rushed; I wanted to get another chapter out before I went on a mission trip for a week. Review; tell me what you thought of this chapter.


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